When asked by The Sports Hub’s hosts if a deal is close, Neely said “yes.” Earlier in the interview, although he stated he didn’t want major changes made to the roster, he spoke as though pretty much anything is on the table in terms of trade bait — even the option to trade Toronto’s first-round pick for a rental player.

Now we all know that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli likes to play everything close to the vest. He rarely acknowledges rumors and his answers in on-air interviews and meetings with the print media often sound like they’ve been pulled straight from a congressional hearing.

So now Neely is airing Boston’s business in public. And how bad will the GM look if he doesn’t get a deal done, or the deals he swings aren’t big enough to appease the masses?

The gauntlet has been thrown down by Neely, and most wouldn’t have it any other way. Despite his declarations about liking this current club’s makeup and the chemistry of the team, Neely seemingly still thinks an upgrade is in order.

For Chiarelli to say on the rival station that he’d “bet on it” when talking about getting a deal done is one thing. For Neely to basically take all excuses out of the equation and leave it up to Chiarelli to close things out is almost a mandate to get something done or face the consequences when a team the GM doesn’t supplement fails in the second round of the playoffs again.

Cam Neely isn’t challenging his teammates to join him in the corners anymore. But he’s obviously demanding his underlings in management to give maximum effort in the personnel-upgrade department.

I think people in this town tend to way overrate their own players. Krejci is a good example. He is a good player. No more than that. If the deal was right, and it was not for a rental player, he would be in a deal for me. For example, if it meant dealing Krejci to get Richards or Igninla…done.

Time to get a deal done Chirelli. Team is playing like crap because they don’t know who is staying and who is going. I’d be making some big changes. This teams lacks what it takes to win a cup as it stands now.